An undercover officer who infiltrated the terrorist training camps gang delivered an astonishing wealth of incriminating evidence. Over the course of six months, the policeman, posing as an eager recruit, succeeded in gaining the trust of the radical Islamists.

He accompanied them on paintballing trips, including one where the officer was so successful he was awarded a prize for player of the day.

He first approached Hamid at the stall on Oxford Street in central London where he handed out Islamist leaflets in April 2006.

He was given the name Dawood, the Muslim equivalent of David.

The officer was invited back to Hamid's home in east London for the group's regular Friday evening meetings, then asked to join a trip to Morocco and subsequently accompanied them on camping weekends to the New Forest. He also visited an Islamic school in Sussex, the Jameah Islameah.

Throughout his time as an agent, Dawood recorded his telephone calls and conversations with the suspects.

When he first spoke to Hamid, the preacher told him he arranged "camping and paintball activities".

He was also promised that "all your sins are forgiven now. You are starting afresh."

Dawood carried on despite being aware that the group was on the lookout for informers.

On one occasion, driving several of the group through south London, one of them began playing with a seat in his car, suggesting it looked like an ejector seat.

"You know Dawood already a secret service man," the man joked.

Dawood, who was driving, shot back: "You know that?"

Hamid then joined in: "... know that [you] working for James Bond". Dawood played along: "That's what this car is, a Q car. It's Q's car" - a reference to the secret service inventor and quartermaster in the Bond movies.

On another occasion, returning from a training camp in the New Forest to London, Dawood recorded Hamid as they sped past Paddington Green police station, the main holding centre for terrorist suspects.

In his evidence to Woolwich crown court, given from behind a screen, Dawood described the paintballing trips. "Because some of the guys were messing about, it was very jovial," he said.

"[Hamid] pulled us together and told us we were not just running about in the woods for fun.

"He told us the training was in preparation for jihad and he wanted us to be focused, to make it as real as possible.

"He [said] he wanted to see us doing leopard crawling and rolls and saving our shots because we had to pay for the pellets, and he said if we were real soldiers we would not waste our shots."

Other surveillance techniques were also deployed to monitor Hamid's activities.

In September 2005 MI5 officers managed to plant a recording device inside the Almack Road house in Hackney, east London.

The listening bug relayed details of conversations praising the 7/7 London bombers and attacking Jews and Americans.

"As they wage war in our country," Hamid told his followers one evening in March 2006, " you know it's halal [permitted] for you to do it here. You cannot say, 'yeah but brother I didn't come from that land'. That's your family that's being put to the sword, that's your family's honour that's being put to the sword."

Police photographers and the security service also watched the training camps in Cumbria and the New Forest. Landlines and mobile phones were tapped.